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Ken Levit Addresses the Goals, Procedures, and Mission of the George Kaiser Family Foundation

Aired on Monday, February 10th.

Anyone residing in or near the City of Tulsa must be aware of the profound and ongoing influence that the George Kaiser Family Foundation has had on this community. Whether through its socially minded programs like Women in Recovery or Tulsa Educare, or through such dramatic civic-improvement initiatives as the Brady Arts District revitalization, the Kendall-Whittier Neighborhood development, or the Tulsa River Parks Trails refurbishment, it's clear that the foundation has significantly improved both the well-being and quality of life for those who live and work in Northeastern Oklahoma. (And it would seem, thank goodness, that there's plenty more to come from this foundation --- such as The Gathering Place, for example.) Today on ST, we're discussing what leads the GKFF to make the investments that it does; we learn about which projects the foundation is now funding, and why, and about the statistics or findings that cause the foundation to focus, in particular, on creating equal opportunities for every child in the Greater Tulsa area. Our guest is Ken Levit, executive director of the foundation, whose "bio" at the GKFF website reads thus, in part: "Prior to taking on the leadership role at the GKFF, Mr. Levit served as President of the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa from 2001 to 2006. From early 1998 through 2000, Mr. Levit was Special Counsel to George Tenet, director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Mr. Levit practiced corporate law at the firm of Crowe and Dunlevy in Tulsa from 1995 to 1998."

Rich Fisher passed through KWGS about thirty years ago, and just never left. Today, he is the general manager of Public Radio Tulsa, and the host of KWGS’s public affairs program, StudioTulsa, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in August 2012 . As host of StudioTulsa, Rich has conducted roughly four thousand long-form interviews with local, national, and international figures in the arts, humanities, sciences, and government. Very few interviews have gone smoothly. Despite this, he has been honored for his work by several organizations including the Governor's Arts Award for Media by the State Arts Council, a Harwelden Award from the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa, and was named one of the “99 Great Things About Oklahoma” in 2000 by Oklahoma Today magazine.
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